Images of Western Chinkapin:

Western Chinkapin grows in the following 3 states and provinces:

Information about Western Chinkapin:

The Chrysolepis Chrysophylla is commonly known as the Chinkapin, Chinquapin, Giant Chinkapin, Giant Chinquapin, Giant Evergreen Chinkapin, Giant Evergreen-chinkapin, Golden Chinkapin, Goldenleaf Chestnut as well as Western Chinkapin.

The currently accepted scientific name of giant chinquapin is
Chrysolepis chrysophylla (Hook.) Hjelmqv. .
Giant chinquapin is closely related to members of the chestnut genus
(Castanea). It was formerly included within the genus Castanopsis
, which includes the Asiatic evergreen trees and shrubs, but
most authorities now place the two North American chinquapin species, C.
chrysophylla and C. sempervirens (bush chinquapin), in the segregate
genus Chrysolepis .
Giant chinquapin develops a number of shrubby ecotypes which intergrade
with treelike growth forms . Differences in form are currently
thought to reflect site conditions rather than genetic differences
. Consequently, the shrubby variety (var. minor), commonly
known as golden or shrub chinquapin , is no longer recognized as
a separate entity . The shrub Sierra chinquapin (C. sempervirens)
hybridizes with shrubby ecotypes of C. chrysophylla in areas where their
ranges overlap .

Giant chinquapin is restricted to the Pacific Coast region, occurring
from central California to west-central Washington . Giant
chinquapin is most abundant in the coastal mountain ranges of
northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. It is also common
throughout most of western Oregon, extending eastward along the southern
end of the Cascade Range into southeastern Oregon and as far north as
the Columbia River gorge . Several disjunct populations occur
in western Washington in the vicinity of Puget Sound .
Giant chinquapin trees range primarily from San Francisco Bay northward
. Shrubby ecotypes of giant chinquapin make up the entire southern
portion of the species distribution from Marin County south to the Santa
Lucia Mountains in Monterey County . Shrubby growth forms
also occur throughout the range of the species in southern Oregon and
northern California . Disjunct populations of both trees and shrubs
grow locally on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada in central
California .